Brentwood Brothers Jailed For Blackmarket Operation

BRENTWOOD—Two Brentwood brothers who collected over $3 million from creating a pharmacy to flood the blackmarket with narcotics, were sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Wednesday, March 13 by U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee.

“It is disturbing that both defendants claim to have done nothing wrong. That is a mirage. There was overwhelming evidence of guilt,” Judge Gee said at Wednesday’s hearing, adding that the Kabov brothers showed “no remorse” for their crimes.

Berry and Dalibor Kabov were the operators of Global Compounding Pharmacy, which was found guilty on 17 counts including tax fraud, drug trafficking, and drug importation. Following a three-week jury trial in January 2017, the brothers were convicted of illegally selling the opioid narcotics oxycodone, hydromorphone and hydrocodone.

The Kabov brothers were ordered to pay $350,834 in restitution to the IRS by Judge Gee. They were found guilty of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, distribution of oxycodone, conspiracy to import controlled drugs, importation of anabolic steroids, money laundering and subscribing to false tax returns.

According to Judge Gee, the brothers appeared to show no remorse for their crimes in court. They pled not guilty, but evidence presented during their trial confirmed they were guilty of the crimes against them. Evidence presented during the trial included recorded phone calls between Berry and an informant. During the call, Berry described oxycodone as “gold” for selling for $50 in New York. Berry offered to ship approximately 4,000 pills per week to the informant.

The Kabov brothers utilized Global Compounding to sell bulk quantities of oxycodone to customers across the country. During the investigation, authorities seized shipments containing thousands of oxycodone pills sent by the defendants to customers in and around Columbus, Ohio. These customers in turn made cash deposits into Kabov-controlled bank accounts or simply shipped bulk cash to the brothers in Southern California.

The brothers were also found guilty of illegally importing steroids purchased from a wholesale distributor in China. After drug wholesalers cut off Global Compounding, the Kabovs started manufacturing their own opioid pills after obtaining a $20,000 pill press from China and acquiring enough bulk powder to make 100,000 maximum-strength pills.

“In total, from the wholesale orders and on-site manufacturing, the Kabovs disseminated over 300,000 pills of opiates to the black market during the conspiracy, which accounts only for what they sold after opening Global Compounding,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing brief.

The Kabovs understated their income by $1.5 million on their federal tax returns. They claimed to have losses in 2011 and 2012, but it was reported that they were living lavishly. At one point, their pharmacy company was the top purchaser of oxycodone among all pharmacies in Los Angeles.

“In the midst of a national opioid epidemic, these defendants used a seemingly legitimate pharmacy as a front to flood the black market with dangerous opioids for their own personal profit,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. “The lengthy sentences imposed should send a resounding message that medical and pharmacy professionals who seek to profit from the spread of opiate addiction will be met with severe punishment.”